C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000391
SIPDISE.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2019
TAGS: PHUMPGOVLH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA: GOVERNMENT SENDS JEWISH PROPERTY
RESTITUTION BILL TO PARLIAMENT
REF: VILNIUS 115
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Damian R.Leader for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d).
Â¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The GOL on July 15 approved a plan for
compensation of communal Jewish property expropriated by the
Nazi and Soviet occupation regimes. The compensation plan
calls for the government to pay 128 million litas (about 52.2
million USD) to a foundation to be determined by the GOL.
The first 3 million litas, to be used for the support of
Holocaust survivors, would be paid by March 2011. The rest
would be paid over a 10-year period, beginning in 2012. This
plan differs markedly from the one negotiated last year by
the GOL and the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO),
which has been a partner of the Jewish Community of Lithuania
(JCL) for years. The GOL abandoned that plan, which called
for buildings to be returned when possible and compensation
to be paid when buildings could not be returned, because of
vague concerns about its constitutionality. The new plan
calls for compensation at a rate of 30 percent of market
value, with a provision for only two buildings to be
returned. The JCL and WJRO on July 16 issued a joint
statement calling the plan "wholly inadequate and
unacceptable." The bill now goes to the Seimas (parliament),
which is expected to debate the issue in its autumn session.
Â¶2. (SBU) Although Jewish groups say the compensation called
for in the plan is too little, the GOL is in dire financial
straits and, politically, is taking an unpopular decision.
In a country where anti-Semitism is strong, the government is
proposing to pay millions of dollars to the Jewish community
at the same time it is cutting social benefits and government
salaries. We will continue to press the GOL and Seimas, and
work with Jewish groups, to ensure that the Jewish community
gets adequate compensation for property stolen from it. End
summary.
Â¶3. (U) The Lithuanian government on July 15 okayed a plan to
pay compensation for communal Jewish property seized by the
Nazi and Soviet regimes that occupied Lithuania beginning in
World War II. The plan will now go to the Seimas, which is
expected to take up the issue in the autumn. The plan, which
was drawn up without significant input by the local or
international Jewish communities, calls for the GOL to pay
128 million litas over a period of 11 years. The first
payment of 3 million litas (about 1.2 million USD) would be
paid by March 2011 for the support of elderly Holocaust
survivors, many of whom live in poverty and poor health. The
remainder would be paid out over 10 years, starting in 2012.
Â¶4. (C) Although international and local Jewish communities
are unhappy with the plan approved by the GOL, some had
argued that compensation on the basis of that plan should be
accepted, because they feared that the alternative would be
no compensation at all. They are unhappy that after eight
years of negotiations, the GOL drew up the current plan
without consulting with Jewish leaders. But even more
important, they say, is that the plan calls for too little,
too late, and without any clarity on who would receive the
money. They say:
-- The compensation level is too low. The GOL says it is
paying for property at 30 percent of its full value. The
Jewish communities say the total does not come close to 30
percent, and asks why that number was chosen in the first
place. They say they would be happy to take the buildings
themselves -- which was what the plan agreed to in 2008
called for -- as that was what was stolen from them. The GOL
has said it would allow the Jewish community to acquire
buildings it once owned, but to do so it would have to pay
100 percent of their value, and not the 30 percent they are
receiving for the same buildings. Thus, the GOL could find
itself in the position of appearing to make a considerable
sum of money by selling expropriated property back to the
Jewish community from which it was stolen.
-- The payments start too late. The Jewish community would
like money to support Holocaust survivors paid immediately,
before too many more of them die. They also would like to be
able to take immediate ownership of the two buildings
mentioned in the plan. But the plan would not allow those
buildings (which would be the only ones compensated at 100
percent of their value) to be turned over until the
compensation payments begin in 2012, because the community
would use compensation money to "buy" those buildings. One
of the buildings in question houses the JCL offices and the
Jewish Museum; the other was the wartime Jewish Ghetto
library.
-- The funding mechanism is unclear. The WJRO and JCL have
formed a foundation to be the recipient of restitution funds.
Citing political reasons, the GOL will not specify in the
plan that the foundation will, in fact, receive the money.
Kubilius has given private assurances that he intends to
designate that foundation or one very similar to it, but the
Jewish communities do not have much trust in his government
right now. Also, they note, the foundation would not need to
be designated until early 2011, and the government could well
change by then.
-- The JCL wants buildings that the local Jewish communities
in the cities of Kaunas, Klaipeda, Panevezys, Siauliai and
Ukmerge could use. Despite repeated requests to the GOL that
such buildings be handed over as part of the restitution
plan, none was included.
Â¶5. (C) Simonas Gurevicius, executive director of the JCL,
told us that he believed the community would have been better
off had it waited and used the time to try to strike a better
deal. "We could say, 'We're ready to wait because the country
is in a financial crisis.' The feeling I have now is the
government wants to get this problem finished with, and is
using the economic crisis to excuse themselves why the amount
is so small." He also said that he thought the people of
Lithuania, where anti-Semitism and intolerance are
widespread, would strongly oppose the payment of 128 million
litas to Jews. "We should be very unhappy," he said of the
government's plan. "It's not a very good result for us."
Â¶6. (SBU) It also may not be a very good result for the GOL,
which is taking a political risk by putting forth this plan.
On the same day that the Cabinet approved the compensation
plan, the Seimas was debating significant cuts in
maternity-leave benefits. The government has severely cut
spending in all areas and has raised taxes, yet the financial
situation in Lithuania remains precarious. So far, the media
have not blamed the government for cutting benefits while
simultaneously seeking to pay money to the Jewish community.
But with the Seimas not likely to debate the bill until fall,
that leaves months for such speculation and attacks to form.
The Jewish community already is being attacked for
greediness. A July 16 article on one of the top Lithuanian
news websites said: "Looking at the news on television, you
hear that they are cutting pension and salaries of civil
servants, trying to resolve a financial catastrophe. Yet at
the same time the Jews are demanding not 130 million litas
but 300 million litas."
Â¶7. (U) The plan agreed to by the WJRO and the GOL last year
called for restitution of properties when possible, and for
monetary compensation only when actual return of buildings
was impossible or impractical. That plan, Jewish leaders
say, would have given their community back its rightful
property without requiring a massive cash payout by the
government. The GOL abandoned that plan in the face of vague
worries by some government lawyers that it might be found
unconstitutional if challenged in court. The statement by
the JCL and WJRO points out that just a few weeks ago at the
Prague Conference on Holocaust-era Assets, Lithuania endorsed
the Terezin Declaration, which encourages countries to "make
every effort to provide for the restitution of former Jewish
communal and religious property." In most other countries,
it was eventually returned or compensated at full value, the
statement said.
Â¶8. (C) Comment: The GOL believes it has done well by
approving this plan in parlous economic times. The
politicians who make up the government could well face voter
backlash if they tried to offer more. The Jewish communities
are in a difficult position, because while they rightly see
this plan as providing grossly inadequate compensation, it
may provide their last best chance for getting any
compensation or restitution at all. We will continue to work
with the GOL and with the Seimas -- as well as with local and
international Jewish organizations -- to ensure that the
Jewish communities receive equitable restitution or
compensation for their stolen property.
LEADER